Back in June when they got so bad that I ended up going to the clinic up here for some medical attention, my coach broached the topic of whether or not I was going to be able to race nationals. The missed workouts represented a big hit to my fitness in one of the last blocks of good training time available leading up to that race. At that point there was still time to salvage it if I could turn things around. When we discovered the mold in the AC and following the clean up I had a run of very good days, I thought things were really looking up.
Beginning last weekend I felt the symptoms start returning. Last Wednesday, I took a Time Trial clinic and during a hard effort had a really nasty attack. It was one of the worst since CapTex. Since then, I have missed or shortened more workouts than I have completed. Yesterday, I didn't make it 20 minutes into my ride. Last night, I emailed Brian "Do you have time for a call?" We needed to talk.
We talked today and discussed it at length. Aside from the obvious conclusions of I needed a new medication regimen to control the asthma and that I probably need a new job, we also discussed Nationals and the rest of the season. We came to the decision that I needed to not go and take all other races off the calendar until the fall. Even though I knew this was coming, it was a huge disappointment to finally hear it out loud.
The conclusion was to approach training with more of an off-season attitude so that when I am not feeling well, I don't push and when I feel good, I can stretch my legs a little more. For the moment swimming is on hold since the shoulder prevents any real progress there and to focus what energy I have on the bike and run.
While I feel like this is a good decision, I am at the moment grappling with a big case of "WHAT NOW??" I was fighting (even if I was losing) to hold the training together for this race and the one in September that I kind of feel like everything just went out of focus. I figured I would give myself tonight to be unhappy about it and tomorrow it would be time to kick on.
Duckie,
ReplyDeleteI had mold in my home years ago and I had to go through a few weeks of steroids (oral and inhaled) in order to heal the lungs. My asthma is now allergy/exercise induced, but if the allergies get the best of me, the asthma is much more sensitive during workouts.
I don't know if you have looked into that, but perhaps it would help. Praying you feel better soon.
Thank you K. I am working with a doc and we are trying things along those lines, though we haven't pulled the trigger on a course of oral steroids. It's good to hear you say that because I was really frustrated that cleaning out the mold did not resolve the issues.
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